UN report cites 'multiple flights' from UAE to Chad, possibly arms transfers to Sudan's RSF
A leaked UN report has revealed "multiple" flights from the UAE to bases in Chad where arms smuggling to Sudanese paramilitaries is known to take place.
The details in the confidential report have raised further questions about the Gulf state's alleged support for the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan.
They also raise questions about the UAE's presence at a conference in London, which has a stated aim of ending the two-year conflict in the country.
The 14-page report, seen by the Guardian, was completed by a panel of five UN experts last November and sent to the Sudan sanctions committee of the UN Security Council.
According to the Guardian, it "documented a consistent pattern of Ilyushin Il-76TD cargo flights originating from the United Arab Emirates” into Chad.
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From there, they were able to identify at least three overland routes potentially used for transporting weapons across the eastern border into Sudan.
'Possible covert operations'
Although the experts noted that they could not confirm what the planes were carrying, their regularity meant there was, in effect, a “new regional air bridge”, and the disappearances of some flights on certain sections of their routes "raised questions of possible covert operations".
The UAE has repeatedly denied it is supporting the RSF in Sudan, while the UN report noted that it was "premature to infer that these flights were part of an arms transfer network."
Sudan's government, which is allied to the Sudanese army, has been at war with the RSF since April 2023, leaving at least 150,000 people dead, more than 12 million displaced and accusations of war crimes on both sides.
Khartoum accuses the paramilitary group and allied militias of perpetrating genocide, murder, theft, rape and forcible displacement. Last week, they also accused the UAE of complicity in genocide during a hearing at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague.
Sudan claimed that the alleged genocide against the Masalit community in Darfur by the RSF would not be possible without Emirati support.
The army retains control over large swathes of territory in the east and north, while paramilitaries hold most of Darfur in the western half of the country and parts of the south.
On Tuesday, a summit began in London bringing together foreign ministers from around the world in an attempt to end the war and address the humanitarian crisis in Sudan.
The summit, which excludes the government in Khartoum as well as the RSF, has been criticised for featuring the UAE, in light of its alleged support for the Sudanese paramilitary group.
Foreign ministers from Chad and Kenya, two countries that are alleged to support the RSF, were also invited.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy has described the conflict in Sudan as the "world’s worst humanitarian crisis", and in a video posted on X ahead of the conference on Tuesday, he questioned the lack of "liberal outrage" over Sudan.
However, when previously questioned by MPs over UK arms sales to the UAE - worth hundreds of millions of dollars - and whether they would be suspended over the Gulf state's support for the RSF, Lammy said that "any sustainable process for peace in Sudan requires the support of all of those in the region and beyond."
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